1973 Swedish Rally

The 1973 Swedish Rally (formally the 24th International Swedish Rally) was the second round of the inaugural World Rally Championship season. Run in mid-February around Karlstad, Sweden, the rally was the only snow and ice rally of the WRC calendar, a distinction it would keep as it remained a fixture of the WRC through the years. Only in 2007 would it finally be joined on the schedule by a second snow rally in Norway.

1973 Swedish Rally 24th International Swedish Rally
Round 2 of the 1973 World Rally Championship season ← Previous event Next event →
Host country	Sweden
Rally base	Karlstad, Sweden
Dates run	February 15, 1973 – February 18, 1973
Stages	36 (760 km; 470 miles)
Stage surface	Snow & ice
Overall distance	1,800 km (1,100 miles)
Statistics
Crews	73 at start, 42 at finish
Overall results
Overall winner	Stig Blomqvist Rolf Carlsson Saab Saab 96 V4

Report

In 1973, and for several years afterward, only manufacturers were given points for finishes in WRC events. After the Alpine A110s dominated the earlier Monte Carlo Rally, Sweden was instead taken by Swedish drivers Stig Blomqvist and Per Eklund, both driving Swedish-built Saab 96 V4 cars. While Jean-Luc Thérier did get an Alpine onto the podium in third place, it was the only such car to finish and he was one of only two drivers not of Scandinavian nationality to complete the race.

Results

1973 Swedish Rally results

Finish		Total time	Group	Car #	Driver	Car	Mfr. points
Overall	In group
1	1	9 h : 18 m : 31 s	1/2	1	Stig Blomqvist	Saab 96 V4	20
2	2	9 h : 20 m : 53 s	1/2	7	Per Eklund	Saab 96 V4
3	1	9 h : 34 m : 12 s	4	11	Jean-Luc Thérier	Alpine-Renault A110 1800	12
4	2	9 h : 37 m : 14 s	4	3	Harry Källstrom	Lancia Fulvia 1.6 Coupé HF	10
5	3	9 h : 40 m : 41 s	4	2	Håkan Lindberg	Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye	8
6	3	9 h : 57 m : 28 s	1/2	4	Björn Waldegård	Volkswagen 1303S	6
7	4	10 h : 0 m : 58 s	1/2	10	Bror Danielsson	BMW 2002	4
8	5	10 h : 35 m : 41 s	1/2	18	John Haugland	Škoda 110L	3
9	6	10 h : 36 m : 42 s	1/2	9	Per-Inge Walfridsson	Volvo 142 S	2
10	7	10 h : 37 m : 22 s	1/2	14	Fredrik Donner	Opel Ascona	1
11	8	10 h : 38 m : 7 s	1/2	33	Stig Abrahamsson	Saab 96 V4
12	9	10 h : 39 m : 23 s	1/2	28	Kjell Ivarsson	Saab 96 V4
13	10	10 h : 41 m : 31 s	1/2	13	Per Tjerneld	Opel Ascona
14	11	10 h : 44 m : 30 s	1/2	8	Jean-Pierre Nicolas	Renault 12 Gordini
15	12	10 h : 49 m : 25 s	1/2	52	Sören Bergstedt	Renault 12 Gordini
16	13	10 h : 50 m : 3 s	1/2	64	Per Engseth	Volkswagen 1303S
17	14	11 h : 2 m : 52 s	1/2	17	Hans Sevelius	Alfa Romeo Giulia S
18	15	11 h : 6 m : 50 s	1/2	47	Jan Carlsson	Volvo 142 S
19	16	11 h : 8 m : 21 s	1/2	16	Egil Stenshagen	Datsun Cherry E
20	17	11 h : 12 m : 34 s	1/2	20	Ole Edvin Granberg	BMW 2002
21	18	11 h : 16 m : 9 s	1/2	38	Erik Aaby	Opel Ascona
22	19	11 h : 19 m : 32 s	1/2	45	Bjørn Flygind	Opel Ascona
23	20	11 h : 30 m : 56 s	1/2	57	Freddy Kottulinsky	Toyota Corolla
24	21	11 h : 38 m : 33 s	1/2	51	Mats Andersson	Saab 96 V4
25	22	11 h : 41 m : 59 s	1/2	25	Johnny Lindersson	Volvo 142 S
Retired			4	6	Ove Andersson	Lancia Fulvia 1.6 Coupé HF
Retired			1/2	12	Lars Nyström	Volkswagen 1303S
Retired			1/2	18	Roger Johansson	Saab 96 V4
Retired			1/2	21	Bernard Darniche	Renault 12 Gordini

Source: Independent WRC archive^[1]

Championship standings after the event

1973 World Rally Championship for Manufacturers points standings after round 2

After round 2		Team	Season end
Position	Points		Position	Points
1	32	Alpine Renault	1	147
2	20	Saab	5	42
3	13	Lancia	13	17
2	12	Fiat	2	84
6	10	Ford	3	76
7	6	Volkswagen	15	15
8	4	BMW	8	28
9	3	Škoda	18	3
10	2	Datsun	6	34
11	2	Volvo	4	44
12	1	Opel	11	25